


Narcissus

by floral_mime



Series: Persona Rarepair Week 2020 [1]
Category: Persona 2, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, One Shot, band practice, outside of canon, slight emetophobia warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27699362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floral_mime/pseuds/floral_mime
Summary: There's a rumour about a disease going around. People say those whose love is not reciprocated are having flowers grow in their lungs and eventually choke them out. This isn't good news for Miyabi, who's been coughing up petals in between visits to watch a local band perform.
Relationships: Hanakouji Miyabi/Mishina Eikichi
Series: Persona Rarepair Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025749
Kudos: 8





	Narcissus

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a series for Rarepair Week! Slight emetophobia warning for some of the phrasing, but nothing of that vein actually happens.

Miyabi knew she wouldn’t make it.

She had been coughing and hacking for a few months now, but it hadn’t been until a few weeks ago that she managed to cough anything up. She thought she just hadn’t been getting enough water until she had found herself choking on a yellow petal. And then another. It didn’t take the student journalist long to hear the rumour about a lovers’ disease that made its victims cough up flowers growing in their lungs. She wasn’t scared of getting sick, but the cause did concern her.

The rumour said those flowers grew in people afflicted with one-sided love. She hadn’t heard anyone talk about if any doctors in Sumaru could treat it. The only cure anyone knew about was for the person’s feelings to be returned. Until then, the flowers would fill the victim’s lungs until they couldn’t breathe. Miyabi had made a note of that in her journal: “practically fatal.”

Only one other person knew. Miyabi tended to take assignments that would send any student journalists to Cuss High. People said she was brave, but she knew she didn’t deserve that praise. She always made time to see Gas Chamber practicing. That’s what kept her coming back. Often, a boy from the school with black hair and a flower in his pocket would stand with her, observing. They never spoke until Miyabi felt something block her throat and ran to a spot the band couldn’t possibly see her gasping for air. She coughed out a large yellow flower in full.

She was catching her breath when she heard a voice behind her. “Those aren’t safe to eat,” it gently chided behind her. She turned, the flower still in hand, and made eye contact with the Kasugayama boy who often stood with her. He glanced at the flower and back up to her. “May I?”

Miyabi nodded, mumbling some agreement as she continued trying to catch her breath from that scare. The boy gently took the flower and looked at it. “Forgive me for joking earlier,” he said. “You coughed out a full daffodil… That’s rather dangerous. You’re far along in that ‘hanahaki’ disease, aren’t you?”

The reporter nodded, coughing again. Thankfully, nothing came out, but it saved her from little humiliation. This boy had never spoken more than a single word to her before, and now he knew about her disease. There really was no way for her to get the upper hand in this situation.

“Do you know what else they call daffodils?” the boy asked, gently rotating the stem between his fingers.

“I know they have another name,” Miyabi said, her voice still shaky. She took a breath before admitting, “I can’t remember it at the moment.”

The boy smiled. “Narcissus. Like the myth of the beautiful man in love with his own reflection. You see, that man reminds me of a certain musician you and I both tend to enjoy. My only concern is,” he made eye contact, his expression softening, as he offered her the flower back, “you seem to be his Echo.”

Echo. The girl in love with him who he never noticed. She’d love to deny her role in that story, but the flower had already given her away. Miyabi shook her head. “I don’t need the flower.” She smiled bitterly. “There are plenty more where that came from.”

A week and a half had passed since the boy, who she now knew as Jun, found out about her disease. The two would keep watching Gas Chamber practice. Miyabi expected the flowers would choke her out by the end of the month, so she’d spend her last days seeing Eikichi Mishina perform. 

Everything about him was eye catching. He had a presence on stage that demanded all eyes on him, and he seemed to shine in the spotlight. His voice was clearly not professionally trained, but the raw edge was part of the charm of the band. They were all talented, though not classically trained, and Eikichi stood out as the glamorous frontman ‘Michel.’

Maybe if she never learned his real name, Miyabi would never have been in this situation. Maybe he should have remained a handsome stranger.

Miyabi put her hand over her heart, watching them practice a new song in awe. She felt something crawling in her lungs, but tried to ignore it. She wanted to hear their first take in person.

As the band played on, she noticed Jun looking at her. “Is there something wrong?” she asked quietly, her voice hoarse. 

The boy furrowed his brow. “Do you need to step away for a moment? You’re swaying… Like you’ve been holding your breath.”

Miyabi shook her head. “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I’ll be alright.” She wasn’t confident in her own words, but practice only had so long left. She could make it through one more song, then run somewhere where no one would have to see her illness.

She could tell Jun was still uneasy letting her stay, but the guitars had already started for the final song. They always closed on their most popular song in hopes someone would overhear and come to ask them about their band. That strategy hadn’t worked yet.

As the song played on, Eikichi’s vocals confident with the lyrics they had performed so very often, Miyabi felt something climbing up her throat. She glanced at Jun from the corner of her eye, but looked back at the band. She could hold on. She could make it through this song. 

This flower felt larger than normal, though. It felt like it came with a stem, or leaves, or another flower attached. Miyabi attempted to swallow to ignore the feeling, but it was too strong to ignore. She struggled to take deep breaths, and held onto the edge of the doorway to stabilise herself.

“Hanakouji, are you alright?” Jun asked.

Miyabi shook her head. There was no denying it now. She probably needed to find somewhere to hide so she could cough up the flowers in her lungs as soon as possible. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus her energy on her escape path. There was a bathroom nearby, she could probably make it there quickly enough. She opened her eyes, her plan in mind, and took her hand off the wall.

As soon as she took her first step, she collapsed to the ground in a fit of coughing. 

The band stopped playing as they suddenly noticed the girl on the ground, curled up and coughing. Jun rushed to the girl’s side, and Eikichi narrowed his eyes. What was he doing here?

He looked at his bandmates. “Someone get a phone and call for help. I’ll see what’s up,” he said, hopping off their little platform and going to the source of commotion. He crouched down by her. He was about to ask Jun what was wrong when he saw a petal, in all its golden glory, fly out of her mouth.

Eikichi put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. My guys are calling for help right now.” He moved her slightly to better see her face and realisation struck him. He looked up at Jun. “This is that Sevens newspaper chick!” he remarked. “What’s she even doing here?”

Jun hardly looked up from Miyabi, who continued coughing and choking as more petals came up, accompanied by the occasional flower bud. “Hanakouji has been coming to see you practice…” he admitted, too panicked to come up with a lie to cover for her.

Eikichi immediately recognised the name. He blinked and looked down at her. “Hanakouji…?” he repeated. That name was familiar, but the person in mind looked different than the person before him. He lifted his hand from her shoulder gently, his brow furrowed. “Is there any chance you know her first name?” he asked, not looking up from her.

“Ah, yeah, her first name is Miyabi,” Jun responded.

Eikichi looked back at her. Miyabi Hanakouji… So it was her. The girl he had loved as a child was now lying before him, practically coughing out her own lungs from something he thought kids at school had made up. He felt so stupid for not recognising her earlier. All those times she came with questions for whatever article was being drafted at that moment, he had never noticed. And now there was a good chance she was dying in front of him.

She had been coming to his shows, watching him practice, interviewing him, and he never even got her name. He had almost let her slip through his fingers again.

He gently put his hand back on her shoulder. His eyes were wide and his brows turned upwards, unable to conceal his concern for her. “Hey, Miyabi, it’s okay. You’re gonna be alright,” he said. “I promise.”

Tears stung at her eyes as Miyabi continued to cough, but inside her, something seemed to change. It felt as though the plant that she had slowly become used to feeling crowd her lungs was drawing back, withering away inside of her. She coughed out a few more petals, but they were wilted and it didn’t feel as if any more were growing to consume her. She was still wheezing and trying to get air, but she had nothing left to cough up.

As she lay there, regaining her breath, she realised what this meant. She had been cured of a disease caused by one-sided love, and the person who cured her now had his hand on her shoulder. Her breathing still shaky, she looked up at Eikichi and smiled at his kind face. Even after all these years, he was the same sweet Eikichi.


End file.
